Red Star formalized the signing of Facundo Campazzo

The Argentine point guard Facundo Campazzo became a new Red Star Belgrade player this Monday, as reported by the club on its social networks.

On his return to European basketball after two years, the Cordovan will share a team with his compatriot Luca Vildozawho arrived at the Serbian institution in mid-October and, together with the Montenegrin coach Duško Ivanović, carried out a revolution: Red Star, who was occupying the last places in the Euroleague a month ago, got fully involved in the fight for qualify for the playoffs.

Campazzo was ‘cut’ on November 28 for dallas mavericks, who before the start of the season had signed him to a non-guaranteed contract. In the Texan franchise, where he was reunited with his friend and former teammate Luka Dončić, the Argentine only played 52 minutes, spread over 8 games.

Argentinski plejmejker Fakundo Kampaco novo je pojačanje KK Crvena zvezda!

Welcome, Facundo! 🔴⚪️

Details: https://t.co/IZQrD0U4vx#kkcz #TogetherWeCan #WeAreTheTeam | @EuroLeague pic.twitter.com/Y8355zsXOO

— KK Crvena zvezda mts (@kkcrvenazvezda) December 19, 2022

Facu, who began his career in Penarol de Mar del Plata and passed by Real Madrid Y UCAM Murciafrom Spain, did have more opportunities in Denver Nuggets, the team with which he made his NBA debut at age 29. There, the 178-centimeter guard played two seasons: in his first regular season he averaged 6.1 points, 2.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.2 steals in 21.9 minutes per night (65 games, including 19 starts), figures that he improved in the playoffs ( 9.3p/3r/4.1a/1.4s in 27′, in 10 games), but in the second course his importance in the team decreased (5.1p/1.8r/3.4a/1s in 18.2′, in 65 matches) , to the point of being relegated in the postseason (13 minutes between 4 games, without annotations).

After his first contract in the NBA ended, Campazzo looked for options to stay in the American league. Throughout the offseason, there was speculation that the Cordovan could return to European basketball, but the offer from the Mavs convinced him to continue in the most competitive league in the world.

However, in Dallas he did not have an important role and the franchise terminated his contract. With this panorama, the first proposal that came out was that of Real Madrid, a club with which he shone between 2018 and 2020, when he became a figure of the first team after his loan to UCAM Murcia, and to which he owes approximately 2.6 million euros. due to the exit clause that he activated in November 2020, at which time he left for Denver, Colorado.

But a strong offer from Red Star Belgrade, which seeks to fight at the continental level with Ivanović, the historic coach of Saski Baskonia, changed Campazzo’s outlook. The Serbian team offered him 1.8 million euros net for the remainder of the season and 2.5 million of the same currency for the 2023/24 campaign, but with a detail that could be essential for the base of the Argentine National Team: he has a release clause. output of ‘only’ 50,000 euros, so -if he wanted- he could look for another destination in the middle of next year.

Real Madrid, which had Facu’s rights in Europe, decided not to match the Serbian club’s offer (tax and salary issues made and make it more tempting for both parties to try to sign him in 2023), so the path was paved for Estrella. Red, despite an interest from the Greek Olympiacos. Once a bureaucratic issue was resolved – a Euroleague sanction that prevented it from registering players due to pending payments – the club from the capital of the Balkan country announced the signing of Campazzo.

In this way, the rojiblancos will form a fearsome Argentine backcourt, with Luca Vildoza -who recently passed through the Milwaukee Bucks- and Facundo Campazzo, as well as the local point guard Nemanja Nedović, fundamental in the great moment of the team, who is tenth in the Euroleague (he has the same record as the last two teams that are entering the playoffs) and escort in the ABA League, which brings together teams from Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia.

Waiting for what happens next season, in which it would not be unreasonable to think of the Argentine at Real Madrid, a club in which he left great memories, despite his controversial departure, Campazzo will place himself under the orders of Ivanović, coach of a defensive philosophy in which he will surely fit very well, with the aim of making his debut before the end of the year and fighting for Red Star’s first Euroleague title, which by accessing the postseason will ensure that he will play the next season of the maximum continental contest.

Campazzo has not played an official match since November 27, when he spent three minutes on the field at Mavericks-Bucks, while he has not played in Europe since November 22, 2020 (Real Madrid-BAXI Manresa), two days before their last match for the Euroleague (Real Madrid-Fenerbahce).